Trump Wants Mexico to Pay for Border Wall 'Directly or Indirectly'

"Kelly elaborated in an interview later with Fox News, saying that the Republican president's views have evolved".

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., was in the meeting with Kelly on Wednesday and said there are multiple immigration bills in Congress, but the White House is causing confusion.

John Kelly told a meeting of Hispanic politicians on Wednesday that Mr Trump was "uninformed" when he promised voters during the campaign that he would build a "big handsome wall" to keep illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States and make Mexico pay for it, according The Washington Post.

"The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it", Trump wrote Thursday on Twitter.

Trump tweeted Thursday morning: "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never meant to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water".

"Kelly took credit for educating the President on the wall and that a concrete barrier from sea to shining sea was no longer the conception of border security barriers supported today by the White House".

"Our country will not pay for a wall or physical barrier, in any way and under any circumstances", it said in the first point, adding that "it's not a Mexican negotiation strategy but a principle of sovereignty and national dignity".

Still, Kelly insisted that the president has been committed to building hundreds of miles of new wall on the border as part of a deal with Democrats on immigration.

They also come as lawmakers struggle to reach a bipartisan deal protecting "dreamers" - around 800,000 people who arrived in the US illegally as children and could be deported without legal protections.

"There's been an evolutionary process that this president has gone through. and I pointed out to all the members that were in the room that they all say things during the course of campaigns that may or may not be fully informed", Kelly said.

According to a report by the Washington Post, the official said that some of Trump's campaign promises were "uninformed" when he made campaign promises about a wall.

This shack standing next to the US-Mexico fence may look as if it can be climbed easily, but the proposed wall is going to be harder to cross.

"That deal that came over was supposed to be two things: bipartisan and both sides of the Hill", Kelly said. Later adding: "One thing is to campaign, another thing is to govern".

Kelly has told friends his role as Trump's top aide has been the toughest job of his career, which has included deployments in Iraq and as commander of US Southern Command.

At the White House, Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders endorsed the plan. "We need the Wall to help stop the massive inflow of drugs from Mexico, now rated the number one most unsafe country in the world." he wrote.

Mr Trump rejected Mr Kelly's suggestion that he had changed his views when he shot off a series of tweets on Thursday morning, and appeared to take issue with the use of the word "evolved".

Democrats' votes are needed to advance the stopgap measure through the Senate.

Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., laid the groundwork Wednesday for attacks on Democrats who vote against the funding plan, arguing that failing to pass the bill would hurt the military as well as beneficiaries of the Children's Health Insurance Program, which the bill would extend.